The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Surgical procedures can be performed on anatomies such as the human anatomy for providing a therapy to the anatomy. One area of surgery includes procedures performed on facial cavities of a patient such as on the ear, nose or throat (ENT). In such a procedure, a surgical instrument such as a suction device may be inserted into such a cavity to perform a procedure for example. Because the viewing angle of a surgeon at the area of interest can be obscured by the surrounding tissue of the cavity, the ability of a surgeon to effectively apply a therapy, such as a suction procedure, can be reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism so that a surgeon can provide a therapy without minimization or reduction of effectiveness of the procedure or in viewing the area to apply the therapy.
In navigation systems, instruments are provided with tracking devices. Sometimes, however, such tracking devices can be difficult to manipulate or cumbersome to the instrument. In other instances, the tracking devices can be positioned in a handle or proximal region of the instrument such that if the distal tip moves or is moved relative to the handle, the distal tip can no longer be accurately tracked.
In some procedures, it may also be difficult to effectively guide the surgical instrument through various shaped cavities of the anatomy. In an effort to address this difficulty, instruments have been developed that include flexible elongated portions configured to be permanently flexible. While these flexible instruments can conform to internal cavities of the anatomy, they do not retain any specific configuration, such that they are generally not suitable for certain procedures, such as an ENT suction procedure.